Prominent House Republicans appeared at Donald Trump’s hush money trial on Thursday to support him, according to AP News.
They stood outside Trump Tower and filmed their support for the indicted former president. They entered the Manhattan courthouse, “standing back and standing by,” Rep. Matt Gaetz stated. Meanwhile, their daily work waited for them to return. However, Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, declared:
President Trump is not going anywhere. And we are not going anywhere either. We are here to stand with him.
With most of Congress once again stalled, unable to pass legislation, House Republicans decided to spend the day supporting their presidential candidate. Their trip came as House Republicans focused their efforts on Thursday on getting Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
The House’s Oversight and Judiciary Committee Republicans are demanding that the Justice Department provide evidence in the case of classified documents against Biden. The demands include an audio interview that is potentially embarrassing to the president, as he stumbles through some answers.
As a result, the Judiciary panel began work on Thursday, and the Oversight Committee postponed the hearing until the evening once lawmakers returned.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticised House Speaker Mike Johnson. All of this is unfolding against the backdrop of what is considered one of the most unproductive Congresses in recent memory. It reportedly has few legislative accomplishments or bills passed into law.
Republicans’ struggle
Republicans gained majority control of the House of Representatives in 2023. However, they quickly became mired in internal infighting, as traditional conservatives were pushed back by Trump’s national Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
They ousted their own leader, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, derailed priority bills and left Johnson having to rely on Democratic help to stay in power. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the Democratic leader, stated:
The extreme MAGA Republicans have brought nothing but chaos, dysfunction and extremism to the Congress from the very beginning. And they cannot point to a single thing that they’ve been able to do on their own to deliver real results, to solve problems for hardworking American taxpayers.
Near the courthouse, about a dozen Republican lawmakers stood in matching dark suits and Trump-styled red ties earlier in the week to oppose the hush money trial . Arizona Rep. Eli Crane claimed Democrats were prosecuting Trump, because “they can’t beat him” at the ballot box in November. Crane argued that he and other Republicans were fighting to “Make America Great Again.” His statement drew a flurry of applause.
They returned to the Capitol by the end of the day, with some of them recounting their visit in a series of late-night speeches.
Donald Trump attorney Todd Blanche reportedly raised his voice at Michael Cohen, accusing the prosecution’s star witness of making up a phone conversation with Trump just before he sent $130,000 to the attorney of Stormy Daniels in October 2016.
